About That Meteor ...

While the rest of the world was worried about an asteroid that had no chance of colliding with the Earth, a meteor actually entered the atmosphere above Russia.  Thank god it did not impact the ground, but the sonic boom still did plenty of damage. Most of the damage was due to shattered glass that injured over a thousand people. Since light travels much faster than sound (think about thunder and lightning), people saw the meteor streaking through the air and were shocked when the massive sonic boom came later, shattering windows and causing alarms to trip. That's what we know.

But before we knew this, we had no idea if there would be more injuries, or even fatalities.  Yet people still flooded social networks with their "cool" and "amazing" photos and memes. I won't link to any here.

I am strongly against posting images of something that we don't yet know the outcome of.  I noticed the same thing - people posting images of things with offensive captions and memes - even dwhen we knew of massive fatalities. This occurred during other natural disasters such as  the Haiti earthquake, the Indian Ocean tusnami, Hurricane Katrina.

I realize that we are living in a real time news world, but I think we should at least give some time when the damage assessments are out before pictures are shared.

For further reading, New Scientist has a great post on the basics of asteroids, meteroids, meteors, and meteorites.

Obama Hanging Out, Talking Science of the Union

President Barack Obama waits as he is introduced for an event honoring the recipients of the 2011 National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation, in the Blue Room of the White House, Feb. 1, 2013. A bust of Christopher Columbus is seen at right. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama highlighted science in this week's State of the Union, and he also answered questions during a Google+ hangout today. Talk about taking science and technology to a new level!

One part of his speech caught my attention:

"Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer’s; developing drugs to regenerate damaged organs; devising new material to make batteries ten times more powerful.  Now is not the time to gut these job-creating investments in science and innovation.  Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race."  

The height of the Space Race was the goal to land a man on the moon in the 60s. That's five decades ago! It's a shame that we haven't reached that level of R&D. It doesn't necessarily have to be for one solid goal as it was for the space race, but we do need to invest in our own infrastructure to build the next generation of scientists   This covers everything from schools to neighborhoods to making college affordable.

Obama also referenced this during his Google+ hangout when he was asked if his daughters take interest in science. He spoke about how they need the encouragement from the system - parents, schools, other students - so that they know that they can achieve. Increased levels of investment can make sure that this will happen.

And of course, the President is doing this while talking live ... over the interwebs ... to regular citizens ... tech overload.

Landsat 8: New Images To Understand Earth

From the gift shop. IT SAYS PI-LINGUAL! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?!

The Landsat 8 satellite launched from the Vandenberg Airforce Base in California on Feb 11th. Over the past 40 years, the Landsat program has provided imagery for public and private use. This newest satellite provides a more accurate way to capture data - imagine using a pushbroom to slowly push dirt along the floor as opposed to constantly sweeping from side to side. For more detail on the mission and technical details, please click here.

Most importantly, Landsat data is used for various public and private means.  The data is used for things such as urbanization, deforestation, climate change and the carbon footprint,. Most people have interacted with the data via the satellite filter on Google Maps, which almost everyone does when they are zooming in on the house they grew up in just to eek out that last bit of childhood.

I was able to watch the launch with a bunch of fellow space enthusiasts at the NASA Goddard Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. We ate hilariously bad food, attacked the gift store, and most importantly talked to the scientists on the Landsat team about the launch.  For my coverage of the 40th anniversary of the Landsat program during the summer of 2012, please click here.

Source: NASA Landsat

Dr. Bernard Harris Jr. Made History Today

On Feb 9th, 1995, Dr. Bernard Harris Jr. became the first African American to perform a space walk (EVA for extra vehicular activity).  A space walk essentially consists of leaving the confines of a spacecraft while in space. You may have seen astronauts moving around the outside of a spacecraft to make repairs and make other observations.

From Dr. Harris's bio, "he enjoys flying, sailing, skiing, running, scuba diving, art and music." Talk about well rounded, considering that he also holds degrees in medicine and bio medical science. Some people are just awesome. He's also a member of my fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Dr. Harris founded the Harris Foundation with the mission "to invest in community-based initiatives to support education, health and wealth". Check a video from the foundation below - if you can't see it, click here.

The March for Diversity in Science Pushes On

City Town Info has created a nice infographic concerning women in science. While some numbers regarding income and representation may be bleak, there is positive news - more and more young women are becoming interested in science careers. The challenge is keeping this interest fresh by keeping science interesting throughout the crucial elementary and high school years.  We need to make sure that scientists are shown as role models, such as those that I posted about at the end of last year.

Courtesy of: Citytowninfo.com